


31 Days of Apex Legends

by Vetted_Silhouette



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Flashback, Gen, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:15:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25020748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vetted_Silhouette/pseuds/Vetted_Silhouette
Summary: A collection of short stories and one-offs inspired by the Twitter event, 31 Days of Apex! Each day will be different, inspired by a one-word prompt. Will include stories about individual Legends, some ships (that my friends requested), and some original characters.
Kudos: 9





	31 Days of Apex Legends

They were getting ready to move planets again, and that meant that Bangalore needed to pack. Well, that part was easy. She didn’t keep much of a personal collection of things, finding the surplus of items to be needless and cumbersome. Looking around her quarters in the sponsored apartment complex, Anita had a moment of just… was it loneliness? Swiping the feeling away like a cat playing with string, she moved forward into the apartment, locking and bolting the door behind her. She didn’t need to, of course, but it was a habit. She preferred knowing that it was locked.  
She moved almost soundlessly into her bedroom, going into the closet and pulling out the IMC duffle bag from its place in the top rack. This felt so natural, and it made her smile a little, thinking of the first time she had left home, shipping out for the IMC bootcamp. It had made her family so proud that another Williams was off to the service, off to fight the good fight as she had been made to believe. Setting the bag on her bed, she started pulling clothes off their hangers and got them neatly rolled up and tucked away into the bag. The closet was cleaned out in probably no more than about ten minutes. Next came the nightstand next to her bed. That had even less in it.  
The P2020 that was a gift from her parents. Pulling it up, Anita held it in her hands, turning it around. You needed to get really close to see it, but there, along the barrel in the tiniest of fonts, was her name engraved into it. She carried it around openly on the grounds and when she went out, but here, she could just hold it in her hands and think of home. Setting it aside, she picked up a small box. This contained a bunch of old photos and some letters from her early days being regimented. 

_My dearest Anita,  
I’m so proud of you, my babygirl. You’ve made it to Sergeant! I mean, I wouldn’t have expected any less of you; you’re of Williams stock. Military is in your blood, and it does this old heart proud to see you embracing it. Don’t tell your brothers, but you were always my favorite. Give ‘em hell, sweetheart. We can’t wait to see you at home again.  
Love always,  
Your Daddy <3_

“You were always my favorite.” Anita laughed and held the yellowing letter up against her chest, feeling some of the love that was in the ink seep into her own heart. She desperately wanted to go back home, back to Gridiron.She missed the sundrenched surface where she could barely take two steps on the surface some days, the cool darkness of the terraformed cities underground that offered protection from the blistering solar radiation. The planet wasn’t perfect, but it was home. Soon, when she had scraped enough together from playing this godforsaken Games, she could leave this all behind, like some kind of bad memory. Putting the letter back into the box, she reached back in, fingers closing around a cool string of metal. Drawing it out, her heart seized for just one second.  
It was a dog tag, engraved with the name Lieutenant Jackson Williams.  
Her knees were no longer able to hold her up, and Anita crashed down the floor, her hands pressing the distant piece of metal to her. Hot tears were starting to work up from her eyes, spilling over down her cheeks. The sounds of explosives and tearing metal was loud in her mind, and any sort of noise she was making herself was drowned out by the phantoms of the exploding depressurization. She could still hear him, still could hear herself screaming his name until her vocal chords felt like they were going to snap under the intensity. It was getting harder to breathe; her chest felt like there was a band of iron around her lungs, slowly contracting to where she couldn’t get a decent breath. Cold chills were working the length of her spine, and despite being in a relatively warm room, gooseflesh was breaking out over her arms. The adrenaline spike was terrible, moving like electricity under her skin. She held the tag closer, almost as if she was trying to absorb it through her ribs and implant it directly into her heart.  
She didn’t know how long it had been, but when Anita had finally come down from the panic attack, she felt like there was a million pounds placed on her shoulders. Her head throbbed from the tens of minutes spent weeping, the flesh around her eyes tight and hot. Wiping the back of a sleeve across her eyes, she leaned back against the bed, tilting her head back and closing her eyes. She didn’t remember getting into a seated position, but she didn’t care. The breaths were starting to come a little easier now, still not as natural, but she didn’t feel like she was fighting something sitting on her chest. Dangling the chain over her eyes, she stared at the slim piece of metal that was swaying back and forth in the air.  
“Jackie, what the hell am I doing here? Will I ever get to go home?”  
Obviously, she wasn’t expecting any kind of answer, but there was a sudden warmth that blossomed in her chest. Despite all the crushing weight of all her anger and guilt and regret, she couldn’t help but smile, just a little bit. “You never left, did you? Still cheering for me, after all this time?” In one motion, Anita looped the chain around her neck and pressed the tag to her lips.  
“I’d be lost without you, Jackie. Stay with me.”  
Tucking the tag under her shirt, Anita jumped a little when the phone in her pocket buzzed. Pulling it out, she stared blankly at the cascade of messages that filled the screen. She had forgotten that she had been added to a Legends group text, and that little hyperactive rabbit-footed daredevil was blowing it up with requests, nay, demands for one last night to hang out and cause trouble. This normally wasn’t her bag, but now, she didn’t want to be alone.  
_**Hell, count me in. Want to make a few more memories before we ship out?**_  
Getting up from the floor, Anita made it to the door and unlocked it, giving one last look around the barren quarters. “You know, Jackie, I really ought to do something with this next time. Can’t always be stuck with my old ghosts.” With that last statement, Anita opened the door and flicked off the light, letting the door swing shut on the memories she was choosing to leave behind.


End file.
